The 62nd Floor
by SweetHarmonee
Summary: Reno was about to find out that there's something undeniably creepy about big, expansive libraries. The hushed whispers, the almost artificial quiet, and the smell of dusty tomes combine to create a surreal experience.
1. Chapter 1

The Midgar government offices and Shinra research library are located on this floor. The library is separated into four rooms each of which is categorized by one area of research conducted by Shinra. Why Tseng felt the need to send me on such a trivial errand at 11 o'clock at night, I will never know. Couldn't he have gone himself? Or asked the Mayor to send the documents earlier in the day? Sent a guard? Elena? _Whatever_.

"Reno," says a familiar voice. I turn to see Mayor Domino locking up his office for the night. He glances nervously at his wrist-watch. "Can I help you with anything?"

I shake my head and the Mayor gives me an appreciative smile before shuffling towards the elevator. Continuing through the entrance to the Urban Development Research section, I begin my search for the Reactor Construction Charts. After forty minutes of sifting through binders and folders, I still couldn't find the god damn charts. Fumbling around in my jacket pockets, I find my cell-phone. I pull it out and call Tseng.

"Yes, Reno?"

I sigh, preparing myself for the worst. "Look man, I can't find them. I gonna be here all night at this rate."

"I don't care how long it takes," Tseng's firm voices resonates on the other end, "Find the charts."

"Yes, sir."

 _Click._

Fuckin' Tseng. He's been punishing me with these stupid errands ever since I made that joke about him and Elena last week. Now he's on this huge power trip. I get it, Rude get its, we all get it. He's the boss... yeah, yeah, yeah. Sexual harassment is not something we tolerate at Shinra. I need to work on my professionalism. Blah, blah, blah. It was just a joke. C'mon! Fuck!

Putting my phone back in my jacket pocket, I let out another sigh. I really wish I would have taken the Mayor up on his offer to help. But c'mon, that guy has it worse than anyone around here, having to play librarian all day. It's humiliating, poor guy. But he'd definitely be able to find me those charts. I head out of the Urban Development Research room and towards Mayor Domino's office. The optimist in me thinks maybe he came back to his office for some reason, I try the door knob. Locked.

Well... maybe there's still someone on this floor. Some of the library staff or a late-night researcher. I walk past the Space Development Research section and the lights are off. The Peace Preservation and Weapon Development Research section is also dark. Thankfully, I can see the glow of lights coming from the last section. This area is completely separated from the others, taking up half of the entire floor. I walk up to the doorway and into the Scientific Research section.

This area of the library is different than the others. With the amount of experiments Hojo's been working on, it's no surprise that it's much bigger than the others. To the left are dozens upon dozens of shelves with books, to the right are filing cabinets, computers, and an area with desks and chairs. I peak my head over towards the right. There doesn't seem to be anyone here. Considering the time, it isn't a big surprise. Everybody's probably gone home. But the ceiling lights are motion-activated, why would they be on right now? Someone has to be here.

I head towards the left and my first impression was right; this section of library is huge. Ambling down the narrow aisles of binders, I briefly glance at some of the titles; _Data on experimental animals living near Midgar_ , _File on Dr. Gast, Biologist_ , _Final evolutionary stages in land dwelling life_ , _Mako energy and the rise in life forms_ , _Report on high Mako levels in living beings_ , _The Ancients in History_... I wonder if the charts are somewhere in here by mistake. With the amount of shelves, I'm going to be stuck searching here for years. I reach the end of the aisle and find another area with desks set up for studying in the back left corner.

Leaning against one of the shelves near the desk, is a tall looking girl in a purple dress. A slick of dark brown hair covers most of her face, so I can't be sure, but I think I might recognize her from somewhere around the building. She's reading a book, keeping it so close to her face. I wonder if she's one of the research interns. Who else would be here this late at night? Curiosity gets the better of me, and before I know it I'm walking towards her. I guess there's no harm in introducing myself, I do need help finding those charts after all. As I get closer, the girl looks nervously up at me from beneath her bangs and I can see that her hair is hiding skin that's badly scarred. I don't mean to, but my eyes are drawn to the mutilated half of her face. Her eyes meet mine and she's obviously frightened. I feel embarrassed. I rub the back of my head and force my eyes towards the book in her hands, _Makonoid: Human Experiments_. It takes me way too long to collect myself and remember why I walked up to her the first place.

"Hey, I'm sorry" I start, but then pause for second to clear my throat. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"That..." Her voice is exceptionally quiet. "It's fine."

It definitely doesn't feel like it's fine.

We stare awkwardly at each other for too many seconds before I break the silence, "So, um... do you know the library very well?"

Her eyes dart timidly from the floor and back up to me a few times, but finally she responds with a tiny nod.

"Well, think you could help me find some files?" I pause to wait for an answer, but it never comes. She just stares up at me nervously. "My boss is gonna kill me if I don't find all the Reactor Construction Charts. I know they're supposed to be in the Urban Development section, and I was looking alphabetically but..."

I trail off and there are many more seconds of complete silence. She doesn't respond and won't even look up at me. Thankfully we're interrupted and the sound of my cell phone ringing fills the silent air. I find myself grateful for the break in our uncomfortable exchange.

"Hey, Tseng..."

"Have you located the charts yet?" There's nothing but irritation in his tone, I suspect he already knows the answer.

"About that..."

He interrupts me; he doesn't want to hear my excuse. "Reeve needs them for the meeting tomorrow afternoon. It's already midnight, Reno. If you don't have them by now, just go home. Come back first thing in the morning so Domino can assist you."

"Yes, sir."

 _Click_.

"I guess I don't need the files right now." I shift back and forth, looking at the brown-haired girl. "I'm just gonna come back tomorrow."

And again there's uncomfortable silence. She fidgets around nervously like she wants to say something, but stops and buries in face back into her book instead.


	2. Chapter 2

7 A.M. And I'm in this fuckin' library, again.

This time I don't even bother attempting to find the reactor charts by myself. As soon as I exit the elevator, I make my way toward Domino's office. My heart sinks when I try the door. Still locked. None of the political puppets or any other Shinra lackeys are lurking about. It must be too early. I knew I should have waited an hour or called ahead, but Tseng insisted I be here at '7 o'clock sharp'.

As if by instinct, I find myself heading towards the Scientific Research section. A chill runs up my spine and I shudder in the doorway. I begin to make my over to the corner where I had met the dark-haired girl last night. I'm relieved to find that there's no one there, but the same shiver of cold hits my nerves and tremble. _Was someone watching me?_ No, it's probably just my imagination.

Suddenly, the thundering noise of binders falling from their shelves and colliding with the floor tiles echo through room. The sound of a wooden chair creaks loudly. My heart races; I hover my hand over my holstered pistol and I make my ways toward the binders that fell. There are a few of them in a pile on the floor. I crouch down to see the titles; _Reactor Construction Charts_ , _Reactor Construction Plans_ , _Reactor Construction Development_. I scoop up the binders and can't help but think how creepy this is... Convenient as hell, but creepy.

A flicker of movement in the aisle next to me catches my attention. In an instant, the binders fall violently back to the floor, my fingers are again clasped around my pistol, and the barrel of my gun is aimed at the strange girl from last night. Her expression is blank, distant, as if I wasn't pointing a gun her. That stare... it was just made me feel so uneasy. She's so weird.

"Hey, I'm sorry," I speak apologetically as I lower the gun and return it to my side "I didn't know anyone was here."

"...!" Her expressionless stare quickly breaks and a look of shock replaces it as she focuses her eyes away from me and towards the tiled floor.

"Um..." I hesitat, unsure how to react. I'm pretty sure it was her I felt looking at me earlier, since there wasn't anyone else here. "Did you find these for me?"

"Not really..." Her reply is a quiet whisper, still staring at the floor.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes-s-s," Her words are shaky, voice still low. "I, I... didn't do anything." Her eyes dart across the floor, eventually stopping to stare at the binders I had dropped at my feet.

"Well, I guess I'm just lucky then," I let out a nervous laugh as I stoop down to collect the binders again. I hold one up, "These are the files I was looking for last night."

"..." She stood still and silent, her eyes looking down at me through her hair.

"So, errr... sorry again for startling you." As I stand up, I debate holding out my hand to introduce myself, but decide against it. "I'm Reno."

"I... know." She looks from left to right, stalling a little before replying. "You-u-u... are with the... the Turks."

"Department of Administrative Research sounds better, doesn't it?" I joke at our official title.

"Jo..." Her speech is stilted and so quiet that I can barely hear her. "J-J-Jolene. I'm... Jolene."

I resist the urge to say 'nice to meet you' just to have something to say, but really it's the only thing that I can think of. I feel so anxious.

She begins to stutter, but I can't make out what she's trying to say, "I... I... I"

"Hm?"

"I have to go!"

And just like that, she turns toward the exit, runs away, and disappears between the aisles of books. She catches me so off guard and I instinctively find myself running down the aisle in the direction she went. But by the time I reach the exit, I can't find her. Mayor Domino and his assistant are merrily chatting away in front of the elevators.

"Hey, did you see a girl run past here?" I stop the two men. "Really long hair. Jumpy. Uh, with scars on her face."

"Ah, Reno," Mayor Domino responds with a huge grin. "I had a feeling you were up here flirting with our little interns. Don't scare them all off!"

"I wish!" I laugh halfheartedly. "I was just checking out some files and she ran off."

Domino pats me on the back, "You have to be careful with the young interns. They can be timid, not accustomed to talking with other people. Too busy with their books."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." I push the button to call the elevator. "Well, gotta get these over to Reeve, see ya' later."


	3. Chapter 3

It's quiet in the bar tonight, a few people here and there. Makes sense considering it's only 4 o'clock on a Tuesday. Looking over towards the bar stools, I spot a familiar face. I'd recognize that blue suit and bald head anywhere. I take a seat next to Rude, nod towards the bartender, and within seconds there's a beer in front of me. Me and Rude, we're regulars here. The place is only a block from HQ, so there's always alotta Shinra staff here.

"What's up, man?" Rude greets me and takes a sip of his beer, before continuing, "You don't look too good. Something wrong?"

"I don't know. Just had something weird happen to me today. A few things, actually." I pause to take a big swig off my bottle. I don't know why I'm telling this to Rude. He's more than my colleague, he's a friend, but it's not like anything that happened with Jolene was a big deal. "Really, I think it's just all this shit with Tseng lately."

"Yeah that's rough, dude." He lets out a sympathetic sigh, "He's the boss and that's the reality of our life. He'll get over it though and stop sending you out to do all this administrative crap. We need you out there."

"Yeah, yeah..." I dismiss it flatly with a wave of my hand.

"So what happened though?"

"Eh, it's nothing really." I hesitate, but decide it's better to get it off my chest. "I was up in the library and I scared some girl off accidentally. Literally too, she actually ran away from me all scared."

Rude laughs a little, "A girl? Hot?"

Hot? That's a tough one. My first instinct is to say 'no'. She's definitely not 'hot', or even remotely pretty. I mean, she had a nice body, a little too pale and thin though. Her hair was beautiful... but that face. I dunno, I guess if it wasn't for those scars, someone might consider her attractive. "Nah, but I guess she was sorta cute. A little."

"Ha, I knew it! Not alotta cute girls working at Shinra."

"But man, I'm telling you," I pause and shudder thinking about how uncomfortable she made me feel. "She was weird."


	4. Chapter 4

A few days pass and Tseng still hasn't let up. He has me running to get coffee, making phone calls, helping out in the gift store, taking notes at meetings... I'm sure it's all very entertaining to him, but I'm pissed. And today I'm assisting in the Security Department. I find myself in tiny room with some random guard, staring at a wall full of security monitors as we watch for any 'suspicious activity'. There's a clerk making copies of documents, a man obviously stealing pens from a supply closet, an employee sleeping at his desk and a variety of other equally dull things to observe throughout the day.

Hours pass and I'm just sipping my coffee when a flash on a screen catches my attention. I look up towards the monitor to see the Scientific Research section of the library. It had been days since I last thought about her, but my curiosity has me asking the guard I'm on duty with, "Can I see some footage from a few days ago?"

"Sure," The guard shrugs. "Which monitor?"

"This one." I point towards the screen. "Four days back, 7 A.M."

The guard fumbles around with some buttons on the switchboard in front of us until I can see myself entering the doorway on the screen. I watch the recording for a few minutes, no one enters or leaves via the doorway, but then the screen goes black. I turn towards the guard, "What happened?"

"Hm?" He's surprised by question. "Oh, yeah we've been having issues with that cam. We gotta get IT out to fix it. But you know how that goes."

"Can you pull up the log of all ID's used to enter and exit the 62nd floor on that day?"

"Yeah, no problem." He types on the keyboard in front him and within a few minutes I see he's pulled up a list. "Looking for anything specific?"

"Yeah," I nod as I lean in besides him to glance at the list. "The name's Jolene."

He types the name into the search bar and it comes back with ' _No results found'_.

"That can't be right." I shake my head, "Can you search the entire employee database for the name?"

He close the screen, opens another, types the name into the search bar. ' _No results found'_.

I don't know if I can understand what happened today, so I give up and head to my apartment, kicking off my shoes before falling face-first into my bed. The sheets are cool against my cheeks and it feels good just lying there with my eyes closed. It's surprising how these boring days make me feel so exhausted. I rather be out in the field on missions. My mind wanders... booze, Tseng, money, a new car, laundry, Rude, coffee, TV, Jolene.

She's so bizarre and surreal. Why wasn't she in the database? Even interns need security clearance to move around the building.

I open one eye to see the bottle of whiskey and pack of cigarettes on the table next to my bed. I'm too tired to move.

Why am I trying so hard? Why am I even thinking about her? She's no-one important.

Although I say that, it doesn't help take the edge off, and the words are left echoing off my empty walls.


	5. Chapter 5

As the elevator doors opens up to the 62nd floor, I debate about staying inside and riding the elevator back down. I couldn't even explain to myself why I was here, but I found myself wandering over to that familiar section of the library. As I passed through the doorway to the Scientific Research section, I looked up at the security camera and jokingly gave a little wave. There were a few people in white lab coats seated at the tables, taking notes from massive books. Making my way down the aisles towards the back corner, I pull a random binder from the shelf. When I turned the corner, I could see that Jolene was sitting at a desk with a book, holding the pages so close to her face that it was like a shield. I take a seat at a desk a few feet away from her. If she notices me, she doesn't show it.

I clear my throat a little before speaking, "You wouldn't believe how hard I'm trying not to scare you."

She nods a little and sighs a little sigh of relief. But she won't look up at me and doesn't respond.

"Well..." I nod towards the seat that's across from hers. "Can I sit with you?"

There's a long, uncomfortable silence. Still refusing to look at me, she lowers her book slightly and shrugs her shoulders.

I guess that's as good as it's gonna get.

When I get up to take the seat across from her, I'm very aware of how slow my movements are. It's as if I'm trying to approach a chocobo in the wild and not scare it off. This is the closet I've ever been to her and for a few minutes, I find myself just staring at her scars, until her grey eyes meet mine.

"I'm sorry!" I exclaim, but realize quickly that I've successfully scared her again. I lower my voice. "No, no, I'm sorry for staring."

"It... it's... it's fine." She softly whispers, immediately raising the book up to hide half her face.

Looking over the book she's holding tightly between her hands, I could make out the title; _Mako and Genetic Modification_. I thought of asking what it was about, make some sort of conversation like normal people do, but she obviously wasn't normal. Instead of talking, my eyes go from her flowing hair, to her grey eyes, and back to her scars. _How did she get those scars? How old is she? Does she ever wear her hair up? Which department is she in? Is her name even really Jolene?_ After a few minutes I realize she's only pretending to read, and like me, her eyes are darting around towards me. But she's not curious, she's scared.

"So..." I made a conscious effort to make lower my voice again and keep my tone calm. "You spend a lot of time here?"

"Y-y-yes." I feel the tension in the air.

The book drops out of her hands and hits the desk. Her eyes focus straight at me, blinking frantically. She starts to stand up.

"Maybe you could use some fresh air," Without even realizing it, I reach out and grab her hand. "I could take you out sometime. You know, just dinner or something."

"I... I... I don't go outside." She stutters, pulling her hand away from me and sprinting towards the exit.


	6. Chapter 6

Every night, I find myself stopping by the library. I find some book to pretend I'm reading, take a seat in the back, and wait. But she never comes.

At the library, I'm asking people if they've seen her. At my apartment, it's 2 A.M. and I'm on my computer reading about social anxiety and agoraphobia. At the bar, I'm listening to advice on how to approach her. At the Security Department, I'm asking guards to playback footage from the monitors in the library. What wrong with me? She's not even my type. I like my blondes. Outgoing, outspoken, aggressive women. Like Scarlet. But here I am, focusing my time and energy into some strange girl that I'm not even attracted to. Rude says it's the mystery that's getting to me and once I figure her out, I'll be able to get her out of my head. _Fuck, I hope so_. She's like a very strange puzzle; awkward, intimidating, innocent, vulnerable.

After a week passes, I'm done. I'm heading toward the library and I've decided this is the last time. I give up. If she doesn't come tonight, I'm done obsessing over her. I get off the elevator, wave at the security camera, and sit at a desk in the back. I don't even bother grabbing a book to pretend to read anymore, which must look awkward to the handful of other people studying in the Scientific Research section tonight.

About ten minutes in, I let my eyes wander around the room and catch Jolene quietly walking in and sitting at a desk in the less crowded section of the library. The other interns are studying in groups, rearranging desks, quietly comparing notes, and she reads her book alone. No one notices her, no one looks at her. Do I just feel sorry for her because she's always alone? Watching her, it feels like I'm the only one who can see her. It's like she's invisible; hiding in plain sight.

She looks over her shoulder a little, towards the exit. I realize that she hasn't turned a single page since I've started watching her. I still feel bad for the times I've scared her off and I want to say something to her before she runs off again, so I get up - but she gets up too and disappears into an aisle. I sprint towards the other end of the aisle she went down and literally bump into her just in time.

"Hey," I pause for a second to catch my breath "Wait a second."

Her mouth drops open in shock, her eyes large and glossy. "R... Reno?"

Woah! She called me by my name.

"Look, I don't know... I just want to get to know you." I shrug, embarrassed. "Just let me know if you want me to stop coming by here."

As Jolene looks up at me, as usual, the first thing I notice are the scars on her face. Then I notice the sadness in her eyes. "N-no, that's not it. It... it's my fault."

"Nah" I shake my head a little. "You didn't do anything."

"Y-y-you..." She stutters."Don't have to stop."

And I'm so relieved to hear her answer. We stand in silence, yet again, but it feels a little less uncomfortable than usual. Her gaze drifts past me and towards the exit again. Moving out of her way, I ask "Do you need to leave?"

She shakes her head back and forth.

I nod towards the desk area where people are studying, "Want to sit with me and talk?"

She looks at the desks, then at me, and then she freezes wide-eyed. "C... can we just sit here?"

I let out a small laugh, "In the aisle?"

She nods and sits on the tiled floor, leaning up against the shelves of books, pulling her knees to her chest and hiding the lower half of her face behind her arms. I sit across from her on the cold tiled floor and copy her pose.

Not surprisingly, I'm the first to break the silence. "So, where have you been?"

"I, I, I've been here."

"I haven't seen you all week."

She lets out a sigh, "People... just don't notice me sometimes."

"Well, sometimes I wish I had that problem." I smile, moving just a little closer to her. "I wish my boss would stop noticing me, ha. But that'll never happen. He's got me..." And so I spend the rest of the night telling her about my job and about my life. I don't know how much she was actually listening, because of course she didn't respond, but at least she didn't seem to mind me being there.


	7. Chapter 7

The alarm blares loudly into my ears, only to be quickly silenced by my sore fist. It's my day off and I'm exhausted, but I something I need to do. My body switches into auto-pilot, carrying my hungover mind out of bed and into my blue suit. It may be my day off, but I'm headed to the office. I'll attract less attention in my normal uniform. I wonder how much I drank last night, but I'm swiftly reminded by the dozens of empty beer cans on the floor. As always, a bottle of aspirin and a pack of cigarettes call out to me from on my bedside table, waiting to help me to start my day.

Before I even realize it, I'm exiting the elevator on the 62nd floor. As predicted, she's sitting in the back and I lean against her desk.

"You should just join the library staff, you're here all the time anyway."

I joke with Jolene and I worry if my tone was too sarcastic, but she briefly flashes an embarrassed smile at me. "G... good morning, Reno."

For a few weeks, I've been trying to stop by the library every time I'm in the building, but with Tseng putting me back on fieldwork, it's becoming less frequent. Despite that, I seem to be making some progress with her; she still rarely speaks to me, but doesn't run away... as much.

"More genetic science shit I wouldn't understand?"

And then she giggles. It's so small and so quiet, I could have easily missed it. But hearing it brings the biggest smile to my face. It seems like she's opening up to me. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it.

Slowly, I make my way over to an empty chair and pull it to sit next to her. It's only then that I realize why the room is so peaceful today, all the other desks are empty. The lack of noise helps my hangover, but the room still feels like it might spin. The taste of stagnant beer hits my dry tongue. Dammit, why did Rude let me drink so much last night? He knew what I was doing in the morning. Woozy, I cross my arms on the table and lay my head down.

I wake up to a gentle tug on my shirt, and turn to see Jolene's eyes peering out at me from under her hair. It's obvious that she senses the I'm not feeling well, but can't work out the exactly what to do. Ours eyes meet for a few seconds and she suddenly jerks forward out of her seat to stand. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and then walks away.

And now I'm the one who's embarrassed. Not embarrassed enough to get up and go home. Not yet. My limbs are heavy, reluctant to move. It's like there's sand in my mouth. Stomach so upset, it's like it's angry with me.

As if sensing the cue, Jolene appears beside me holding a prescription pill bottle and trying to avoid eye contact. "Y-you're suppos-... take two."

"... thanks." I mutter, lifting myself up a little and grabbing the bottle as she sits back down into her seat. I don't know what they are and I don't bother reading the label. I twist off the lid and dry swallow two pills.

After a few minutes my headache dulls slightly. I shift myself upright a little and look next me to notice that she's closed the distance between us. Not enough that anyone would consider it 'close', but it's not her usual 'just-a-little-too-far-away' self. Her pale fingers are clutched tightly around her book again, her head tilted down. Even though she's only moved a bit closer to me physically, I feel as if emotionally she's come a along away. At least she can be in the same room as me for more than ten minutes now without running away in complete fear. I try to stop a laugh at the thought, but it's futile.

"A-are you okay?"

I turn towards her in my chair, closing the distance just a little more. "I was just thinking that you've relaxed a little."

She moves her head to try to hide another small smile with her hair, "Y-yes. With you."

"But we still got a long way to go, don't we?" I ask, but I don't expect an answer. I wonder if she's this nervous with everyone or just me, but I don't ask. "Well, I'm here."

We sit in the library like that for hours, side by side. People come and go throughout the day as we continue to sit in complete silence. Every so often I find myself glancing at Jolene. No matter how much I try, I can't escape her scars. They interrupt any train of thought when I see them. Dark red blemishes travel in jagged waves from the center of her hairline, to the side of her eye, down her cheek and to the corner of her mouth. Thankfully it's only on her left side; from the right angle she could be mistaken as any normal girl. I look away, maybe because I don't want to make her uncomfortable. Instead I try to eavesdrop on discussions around us. As much as I don't want to admit it to myself, I know that I'm not looking away to put her at ease; that I'm forcing my eyes away from her face because her disfigurement makes me uncomfortable. I glance over at her face one more time, then I flip through articles about Materia.

By the time night falls, the room is all but abandoned and we are practically alone again. The lack of people reflects on Jolene's body language; a little less stiff, a little less nervous, she even twirls a lock of her brown hair around one of her fragile fingers and taps her shoe on the tile. It's almost as if she were enjoying herself.

"So, why all this makonoid stuff?"

She looks up from her textbook, but not towards me. "I... I'm... w-with the... Science R-research... Division."

I blurt out a huge laugh, "Well, I already kinda figured that!" I pause, but realize after a few seconds that I'm not going to get a response. "You'll have to teach me some of this stuff someday."

"S-sure." She doesn't seem sure at all, but pushing it doesn't seem like a good plan.

At the very least, she seems more relaxed today than ever. That alone makes me happy. I stretch, check my wristwatch and stand up, "Are you gonna head home soon?"

"Y-yeah." She nods, turning slightly to look up at me.

"Okay then. I'll see you again soon."

"O... okay, b-bye."


End file.
